Government wins second arbitration decision in Steward deal

The government has won a second abitration proceeding in front of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) over the terminated hospitals deal awarded to Steward Healthcare.

Health Minister Chris Fearne told parliament on Wednesday that Malta won a second arbitration proceeding last week, but was scant on the details of the decision.

Last April, the Emergency Arbitrator decided in favour of the Maltese government and ordered Steward to bear the government’s costs in the proceedings.

The emergency arbitration procedure offers a short-term solution for parties that are unable to wait for the constitution of an arbitral tribunal.

It is unclear what this second decision concerned.

The decision by the ICC followed a court decision in Malta that annulled all contracts awarded to Steward and its concession predecessors Vitals Global Healthcare.

The court sentence suggested fraudulent intent in the deal.

A month later, Steward announced that it will be terminating the services concession agreement with government on its own accord, citing breaches of commercial agreements.

The move came just 24 hours after Steward appealed the court ruling that annulled the concession agreement.

The government went on to inform Steward that it will take over the hospitals, in effect rejecting Steward’s own termination of the contract and instead moved to kick them out on its own terms.

READ ALSO | Fearne on hospitals deal: ‘Things happened behind my back, but today I have full visibility’